I think this concept is great. The problem is actually with the service name -- "applypal" obviously could suggest anything, so increasingly it seems like the logo has to reference that it's a college service but this is very, very nice.
Actually, just as a follow-up, I want to emphasize how simple and elegant I think this design is and I worry that my suggestion that it somehow reference the company's business will diminish it, but I guess you're the creative one, not I. Maybe it's not possible, but if you could somehow maintain the elegance of your design and reference the college market without cluttering the design, I'd be amazed.
sticking with the compass concept, the cap is integrated into the compass with its 4 corners lining up to north/south/east/west. The icon still remains simple and is very symbolic of your companies offerings.
Thanks, Glendon. I love the font and the colors (in #33). It's been suggested here that perhaps ditching the compass motif and going with a stylized cap/mortarboard over the "a" (but preserving your clean design) might be interesting. If it's not too much trouble/time, do you think you could try?
On #62, could you: 1) make the the gold color a little deeper (something closer to #f69400 -- or a color you choose) 2) make the mortarboard *slightly* larger vertically 3) increase the space between the "a" and the mortarboard *slightly* and 4) remove the period in the (very good) new tagline?
#85 another word mark creating a human element in celebration. by using the letters a and l in pal, it creates the form of a graduate lifting his cap from his head (a) and preparing to toss it (l)